Farmers Lambast Panel for confusing the farmers demanding they should think of ways to upgrading the sinking Rs 5000 Crore Apple Economy at this point of time.
SHIMLA/PARALA: In Himachal’s apple belt, the buzz is not about fruit quality and better prices for farmers but about cartons.
The most pressing problem today apart from the long term issue is: how to bring apple to markets.
Most link roads are cut. The apples are dropping and rotting in orchards or roadsides not only in Shimla, but also in Kullu Manali, Kinnaur and other places due to unending spells of rains.
And farmers are furious. The BJP’s apple panel has promised to bring back telescopic cartons if the party comes to power — and growers are calling it a “gift to arhtiyas.”
The Telescopic Trap
“Telescopic cartons mean 35–40 kg of fruit stuffed in one box. Perfect for traders to buy cheap, sell high and fatten their margins. And who bleeds? The farmer,” said a grower at Parala.
Farmers mock the BJP panel, saying they spent more time chatting with traders than listening to growers and their problems.
“They are parroting the arhtiyas’ script. Not a farmer’s agenda, just middlemen’s wishlist.”, charged the growers.
The agenda of any party or organisation should be guided by farmers-first approach, not by trader-first. Farmers are the primary source, backbone of apple economy.
Because the farmers exist, traders feed on their hard work. If farmers are ruined, so would be the fate of traders and manufacturers.
Mandis or Private Shops?
Across Rohru, Narkanda, Parala, Bhattakufar, Solan and Parwanoo, APMC yards look less like auction yards and more like private warehouses. Cartons pile up like walls, blocking open bidding on Auction yard.
It makes easy for arhtiyas and traders or buyers to strike underhand deals under towels, resented the farmers.
What was shocking is that the Panel did not bother to utter a word or they might be ignorant about the APMC Act and Auction Yard mandate, that they were standing amidst a piles of apple cartons behind and around them at Parala Mandi!
Why the panel is just bothered about cartons? Was the panel tutored by the manufacturers-traders lobby, which approached the party high command Dr Rajiv Bindal", quizzed the apple farmers.
“The law says auctions must be transparent. Here, we don’t even know who is offering what price as you see huge piles of cartons stacked on the Auction Yard at Parala and other Mandis. Traders and APMC officials have turned the mandi into a racket,” alleged farmers.
In Delhi and Pinjore, arhtiyas must clear the yard the same day. “Why is Himachal's APMC sleeping?” growers ask.
Universal Carton: A Hard-Won Battle
For farmers, the universal 20 kg carton was not a gift but a victory after years of struggle. Everybody-Congress, BJP, CPM wanted universal carton.
It stops over-packing. It aligns with international norms (no apple box exceeds 18 kg globally). It ensures quality fruit fetches premium prices.
And yet, BJP leaders now want telescopic cartons back? “Earlier they demanded universal cartons. Now that it has arrived, they oppose it. What should we call it? Double standards or double cartons?” one farmer quipped.
The Real Rotten Apples
Growers say carton politics is just a distraction from real crises that is ruining the apple industry:
Payments: Farmers wait weeks or months for their dues, while certain traders disappear after the season. “Our apples vanish, our money vanishes, and so do the traders.”
HPMC's CA Stores: Slots are eaten up by traders, not growers. Farmers want storage rights so they can wait for better prices. Incase markets crash or farmers are not happy about the prices they are fetching, they can opt for CA store.
Digital Mandis: Real-time price updates are demanded. “If Sensex can run on screens, why not apple prices in mandis?” All the APMC run Mandis should be linked to the mandis across India for real time price update".
Procurement Mess: HPMC and HIMFED leave fruit rotting by the roadside. The centres were not opened in time. As a result the C grade fruit arrived in Mandis, hitting prices of quality apple.
“This year we lost Rs 500–1000 per carton. That’s not loss, that’s daylight robbery.”
Processing Gap: A-grade fruit earns money, B and C grades bleed farmers. “Why not talk about juice plants, chips, cider, anything — instead of cartons?”
Retail Linkages: Farmers want direct sales, not middlemen mansions. “Traders buy in Himachal, sell in outside markets across India, in Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan and end up buying flats in Zirakpur. We are left with loans and pending bills of labour, chemical show owners.”
Packaging Standards: Universal cartons need universal trays. Low-quality trays and cartons are breaking apples, and markets.” The manufacturers should to subject to packaging standard metrics so that the farmers get sturdy cartons rather than ones that collapse under weight in stacks.
Farmers’ Satire on Social Media
Social media is brimming with farmer anger. One viral post read: “Discussion should be on how to stop payment frauds, link markets digitally, or improve processing. But our leaders are busy deciding carton size — because arhtiyas want heavier boxes for heavier bank balances.”
Another farmer wrote: “Politics here is not farmer-first, it’s trader-first. Leaders are packaging middlemen’s profits in the name of farmers.” For Himachal’s growers, the carton fight has become a symbol of larger betrayal.
Farmers say they will resist any rollback of the universal system — and continue pressing for real market reforms that guarantee transparency, fair prices, and timely payments.
“Enough is enough,” said one grower. “Our apples deserve markets, not manipulations. And our cartons deserve honesty, not politics.”
#HimachalApple #PremiumQuality #UniversalCarton
